Great Seto Bridge
The Great Seto Bridge or Seto Ohashi Bridge (瀬戸大橋, Seto Ōhashi) is a series of double deck bridges connecting Okayama and Kagawa prefectures in Japan across a series of five small islands in the Seto Inland Sea. Built over the period 1978–88, it is one of the three routes of the Honshū–Shikoku Bridge Project connecting Honshū and Shikoku islands and the only one to carry rail traffic. The total length is 13.1 kilometers (8.1 mi), and the longest span, the Minami Bisan-Seto Bridge, is 1,100 m (3,600 ft).
Great Seto Bridge (瀬戸大橋, Seto Ōhashi) | |
|---|---|
Great Seto Bridge from Honshū (left) via the islands of Hitsuishijima and Yoshima to Shikoku | |
| Coordinates | 34°23′54″N 133°48′36″E |
| Carries | 4 lanes of Seto-Chūō Expressway (upper) 2 rail lines (lower) |
| Crosses | Seto Inland Sea |
| Locale | Honshū and Shikoku |
| Maintained by | Honshu–Shikoku Bridge Authority |
| Characteristics | |
| Design | Double-decked bridge system |
| Total length | 13.1 km (8.1 mi) |
| History | |
| Opened | 1988 |
| Location | |
Crossing the bridge takes about 20 minutes by car or train. The ferry crossing before the bridge was built took about an hour.
The bridges carry two lanes of highway traffic in each direction (Seto-Chūō Expressway) on the upper deck and one railway track in each direction (Seto-Ōhashi Line) on the lower deck. The lower deck was designed to accommodate an additional set of Shinkansen tracks for a proposed extension of the Shinkansen to Shikoku.